Extract text from HES files
To convert your HES file to another format, you need Audio Overload or other Audio software.
To convert other file formats to the "Game Music Emulation" file type, you need software like Audio Overload or a similar tool.
The .HES file type is a chiptune audio container used to store music data ripped directly from PC Engine (known as TurboGrafx-16 in North America) game ROMs. Unlike standard audio files like MP3 or WAV, a .HES file does not contain a waveform. Instead, it holds the raw code and data instructions required to drive the console's HuC6280 CPU and programmable sound generator (PSG). This proprietary architecture means .HES files are incredibly small - often just a few kilobytes - but completely unplayable on standard media players, smartphones, or web browsers without specialized emulation.
Because these files rely on emulating specific 1980s hardware to generate sound, users frequently encounter compatibility friction. You cannot simply import a .HES file into video editing software or listen to it in a car. To make this game music accessible for modern listening, archiving, or remixing, the practical solution is converting the emulated stream to a standard format. For casual listening and web use, convert .HES to MP3 or AAC. For archival purposes or high-fidelity editing, converting to lossless WAV or FLAC is recommended to preserve the sharp, square-wave characteristics of the original chiptune synthesis.
Convert.Guru analyzes your HES file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted VGZ, RME, HCOM and INRS files.
If you want to convert HES file to MP3, WAV, AAC, FLAC, OGG, WMA, M4A, AIFF, OPUS, ALAC, APE or WV, you can use Audio Overload or similar software from the "Chiptune Audio Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MIDI, AAC, TTA, AU, WV, DTS, MID, FLAC, RA, MP3, PCM or WAV files to HES, try Audio Overload or another comparable tool in the "Chiptune Audio Storage" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our HES converter.